WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 03/2019

Today’s systems

Today’s systems business is also largely characterized by services related to the product. Which opportunities arise here as a result of the new ownership structure? Like in the past, we will continue to cultivate positive business relations with all system integrators in the future” Sidy G. Diop via plug and play. This means that our products and solutions not only have mechanical unique selling points, but also in the area of associated control. In addition, I firmly believe that this – deliberating future topics in the area of material flow technology – was an important aspect for Honeywell in favor of Transform in the runup to its investment decision. Reichert: As part of our “New Product Introduction” strategy, we want to have new products ready for serial production every year, across all business units. We see huge opportunities here if we combine the innovative technologies and expertise of Honeywell in, for instance, the areas of sensor technology and Industry 4.0 with the products and solutions offered by Transnorm. A team of Honeywell and Transnorm employees is already working on corresponding concepts for predictive maintenance. The short-term potential of this joint project is very promising. Reichert: Honeywell has a company branch dedicated exclusively to after-sales matters. We want to raise the profile of the underlying concept in Europe. The market position of Transnorm should help us to do this. For instance, Transnorm can offer our “Life Cycle Services and Support” concept both to end customers and system integrators as an additional component of collaboration. In addition to the plant at its headquarters in Harsum, Transnorm also has production facilities in Bangkok, Thailand and Arlington, Texas. How will these locations be integrated into the Honeywell network? Diop: As part of Honeywell now, I expect a swift optimization of our own supply chain. The objective of these efforts is to reduce delivery times whilst simultaneously expanding production – all with the same level of product quality. Without a strong corporate group, such results couldn’t be achieved – simply because until a few months ago, we did not have the corresponding scope within the company. Reichert: When it comes to production, our motto is to think globally and produce locally. Only this way we can reduce delivery times but also better understand the requirements of the local market. For instance, it makes no sense to reproduce exact copies of the products developed at a European site in North America or Asia. All locations are equipped with resources to adapt the products and solutions to the requirements of the local market. Photos: f+h Thank you very much for your time. z LOGISTICS Editorial Directors: Dirk Schaar, Email: d.schaar@vfmz.de Winfried Bauer, Email: w.bauer@vfmz.de Editorial board: Peter Becker (Editor-in-chief), Email: p.becker@vfmz.de Nicole Steinicke (Editor-in-chief), Email: s.steinicke@vfmz.de Manfred Weber, Email: m.weber@vfmz.de Svenja Stenner, Email: s.stenner@vfmz.de Assistant editors: Svenja Stenner, Petra Weidt Design/Layout: Anna Schätzlein, Sonja Daniel, Anette Fröder, Mario Wüst Epaper designer: Katja Rüdell Managing editor: Winfried Bauer Publishing house: Vereinigte Fachverlage GmbH Lise-Meitner-Str. 2, 55129 Mainz, Germany Commercial Register No.: HRB 2270, District Court of Mainz VAT-ID: DE149063659 Privacy Statement: ds-vfv.vfmz.de Managing director: Dr. Olaf Theisen Publishing director: Dr. Michael Werner, Email: m.werner@vfmz.de Correspondent India: Sushen Haresh Doshi M.Sc. Advertising sales director: Beatrice Thomas-Meyer, Email: b.thomas-meyer@vfmz.de Advertising sales manager: Oliver Jennen, Email: o.jennen@vfmz.de Andreas Zepig, Email: a.zepig@vfmz.de Sales representatives Austria: Heinz-Joachim Greiner, Email: verlagsbuero-greiner@vfmz.de France: Marc Jouanny, Email: marc-jouanny@wanadoo.fr Great Britain, Ireland: Roberto Tondina, Email: roberto@ts-communications.co.uk Italy, Switzerland: Hermann Jordi, Email: info@jordipublipress.de Sweden, Finland, Norway: Malte Mezger, Email: verlagsbuero-mezger@vfmz.de Taiwan: Amy Liu, Email: amy@hf-taiwan.tw USA, Canada, Mexico: Patrick Venezia Jr, Email: verlagsbuero-venezia@vfmz.de Advertising disposition: Annemarie Benthin, Email: a.benthin@vfmz.de Helge Rohmund, Email: h.rohmund@vfmz.de Nevenka Islamovic, Email: n.islamovic@vfmz.de In cooperation with: Hannover Fairs International GmbH, Messegelände, 30521 Hannover, Germany Internet: www.world-of-industries.com 26 WORLDOFINDUSTRIES 3/2019

CHANGING TIMES Automation market – grow in all technologies We continue our series ‘changing times’ and ask Reiner Müller, President of the Factory Automation Division at Pepperl+Fuchs in Mannheim, Germany to give us a look into the future of technology. What are the trends and developments in international markets like, looking back to the last ten years as well as looking to the upcoming years. How has the international market for Pepperl+Fuchs developed over the past ten years? The automation market has significantly grown over the past ten years in all regions of the world. At Pepperl+Fuchs the growth in Asia, particularily in China and India has been above average. This for sure results from our early presence in Asia starting 1979 in Singapore, our today’s Asian Headquarters including a strong manufacturing and logistics hub. In China and India we started our direct sales activities more than 25 years ago, such benefiting from the dynamic growth in industrialization and automation in these huge economies. To strengthen our regional footprint we have recently added new sales subsidiaries in Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan. Another region with extraordinary growth for Pepperl+Fuchs in recent years has been Eastern Europe with focus on Poland, Turkey and Russia. As supplier of industrial sensors and communication interfaces we serve all kind of machine building and equipment manufacturing industry. One of our global strategic target markets with dynamic ongoing growth has been the intralogistics industry, driven by huge investments in airports, warehouses & distribution centers and e-commerce facilities. Also the business with the automotive industry - we do not sell sensors for passenger cars, but for machinery and robots in car manufacturing – has grown significantly over the past years. In terms of product segments we could grow in all technologies, above average in photoelectric sensors including 2D-Lidar-Scanners, ultrasonic sensors, vision systems and communication interfaces such as AS-interface system components. What trends are you currently observing, where will the journey take us to countries, markets, products and solutions in the next ten years? Although there are some threats at present regarding free global trade we still see good reasons for further growth in automation business in the coming years. First of all there are still many countries that will develop further - think of the huge African continent. At Pepperl+Fuchs we continue to invest into the expansion of our global sales force and therefore have started a sales subsidiary in South Africa for the Sub-Sahara-Region a few years ago as well as in a sales team in Morocco for North Africa. Colombia is another example for an emerging market, where we have started a sales subsidiary last year. And second, the actual trend towards digitalization and the Industrial Internet-of-Things drives the automation business in addition. Machine builders as well as end users have started to invest into the next level of automation which leads to the increasing demand for smart sensors, identification systems, communication interfaces and IoT-solutions. At Pepperl+Fuchs we invest consequently in the development of Sensorik 4.0 as well as Ethernet- and IO-Link based communication interfaces. With the recent acquisition of the business of Comtrol Corporation, a US-based pionieer in industrial networking and data communication products, we can offer our customers more solutions for the digitalization of their automation processes including innovative technologies like OPC UA and MQTT. On top of that we are additionally able to offer complete cloud based IoT-services and solutions by our Pepperl+Fuchs Start-Up company Neoception. www.pepperl-fuchs.com WORLDOFOFINDUSTRIES 3/2019 27